


Unforgetable Ikebana and Sunsets

by XiroPaine



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Candy, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Haircuts, Halloween Costumes, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Karaoke, Musical References, OTP Feels, Sick Character, Sleepovers, Sunsets, TomoHimaWeek2018, Tomoe is a filthy casual gamer, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-06 19:05:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15892200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XiroPaine/pseuds/XiroPaine
Summary: #TomoHimaWeek2018 drabble series. WARNING: Gross amounts of tooth-rotting fluff ahead.





	1. [Day 1] Sleepover/Karaoke

**Author's Note:**

> Aight, it’s time to write some gross fluff for the OTP of all OTPs. This drabble series is for #TomoHimaWeek2018, but I’m going to post them under the same story. Each one can be regarded as entirely separate from one another or be grouped all together in the same universe within the multiverse. Also, I tried to utilize both prompts, since most of the days had two. This is also where all my alt ships (with the exception of LisaYuki) are gonna get dumped in the background so they have a chance to see the light of day. I'll try to add tags as each day goes by.  
> BTW, The title is a reference to something else, you get an extra large order of fries if you guess what.

It was already dark out when Ako got back home, just coming from rehearsal with Roselia. Not to mention the band went out to get fries and coffee afterwards, so it must have been really late by now. Luckily, it was the weekend, so Ako wasn’t really concerned. She messaged her sister earlier about staying out a bit later to get food with the rest of Roselia. Tomoe said it was fine, since their parents were out of town anyways to visit their cousins. Plus, Himari was planning to stay the night too.

Ako was just about to unlock the front door to her house when she heard a high pitched scream from inside the house. Panicked, Ako quickly threw open the door to be met with Tomoe and Himari, both covered in a light layer of sweat, on the living room couch.

“Tomoe! You cheater!” Himari accused.

“I did no such thing,” Tomoe retorted, crossing her arms with an evil grin on her face, full knowing what she had done.

Himari whined; how could she be betrayed by her own girlfriend? Tossing her controller onto the cushions in frustration, she grabbed another cookie from the coffee table to eat away her frustrations. The tv in front of them projected the results screen to their latest match in Super Smash Bros. Melee. A victorious Samus, Tomoe’s chosen character, made a dramatic pose on the screen, taunting Himari as Tomoe laughed at how personal Himari took the loss.

“This is what you get for picking Sheik,” Tomoe said between laughs as she laid herself onto the couch to get a hold of herself, putting her feet up over Himari’s lap. “You stole my character.”

There was an unspoken house rule in the Udagawa household that you couldn’t play the same character as someone else in any given matchup. Himari stuck her tongue out.

“Onee-chan! I’m home!” Ako called out, internally relieved. She thought someone had gotten seriously hurt or something.

Tomoe sat up and waved at Ako with a grin. “Hey Ako, how was rehearsal?”

“Great! Lisa-nee said I’m getting better at not rushing from adrenaline,” Ako piped up, but then suddenly gave them a puffy pout. “You guys said you’d wait for me to start playing!”

Since Himari was sleeping over, it meant they would have three people playing multiplayer games. It was kind of boring when it was just her and Tomoe playing together; it was more fun when there were more people. Himari came over often, even more so once she started dating Tomoe, which meant the three of them played video games together quite often. 

“We were waiting.” Himari answered in Tomoe’s stead as the taller Udagawa shut off the GameCube. In turn, she powered on the PlayStation and inserted the disc for Rock Band.

“If it makes things any better, Ako, you can play drums this time.” Tomoe offered as she picked up the guitar controller and a microphone, handing the prior to Himari.

Ako’s eyes instantly lit up and quickly grabbed the plastic drum set before Tomoe had a chance to change her mind- not that she would. Their trio was solid; Ako on drums, Himari on bass, and Tomoe on vocals. Despite being a drummer, Tomoe had an uncanny knack for singing. Her amazing ear for relative pitch made her the natural choice to be Afterglow’s primary harmonizer. Himari and Ako were both envious at how natural Tomoe made it look- singing and playing an instrument simultaneously presented a more difficult challenge than it initially seemed- since the two of them were just starting to get the hang of it.

Tomoe grabbed an extra controller so that she could navigate through the menus. They debated over which song they would play first, but eventually settled on “Still Into You.”

Aside from being an amazing singer, Tomoe was also pretty decent at English. She and Himari got into a lot of American pop rock bands back in middle school, and while they couldn’t really understand most of the lyrics meant, it was still enjoyable to listen to.

While the song was loading, Tomoe took a quick gulp of her drink, Ako randomly hit a few pads to test out the kit, and Himari loosened the strap on the controller guitar. When the song was about to start, the trio focused on the screen in anticipation. For Ako, playing drums in the game wasn’t too different from playing the actual instrument. Himari, however, always had a bit of trouble switching from one to the other and usually had to seriously focus during the first song or two to get used to the feel of the plastic controller again.

The song started, and each were engulfed into their respective parts. As always, Ako always danced a little as she played. Once Himari got into the groove, she too also could not play staying still. Tomoe was the most active of the three of them, already being pretty familiar with what the words and syllables were. Her accent didn’t really matter in terms of getting points, so as long as she hit the right pitches, she wouldn’t fail the song.

Tomoe’s dancing was pretty distracting to Himari, who would constantly glance away from the screen to watch her girlfriend enjoy herself. It made Himari chuckle here and there at how carefree Tomoe was being, but she knew she had to keep watch of which notes were coming. Luckily, she always chose an easier difficulty at the beginning of their play sessions as she refamiliarized herself with the controls. 

However, just as they hit the pre-chorus, Tomoe wrapped an arm around Himari’s shoulder. Tomoe sang the lyric to Himari, still holding the microphone to the corner of her mouth.

_‘Cause after all this time, I’m still into you_

Tomoe was gone as quickly as she came, going back to her usual dancing. Himari wasn’t sure if Tomoe was trying to throw her off on purpose or was just letting loose, but now she was really off her game. Himari was able to recover quickly, but her mind was now focused on remembering what the words of the song they were playing actually meant. She looked up the translation a few times before, because this was one of Tomoe’s favorite songs to play on the game.

By the time the second chorus came around, Tomoe made it very obvious that she was trying to serenade Himari. Yes, it was overly dramatic and actually made Himari laugh at how ridiculous it was, but a light blush still made its way onto Himari’s cheeks as she struggled to keep up with the song. She wasn’t sure when her body started to feel a little giddy.

_I should be over all the butterflies but I'm into you_

Himari was grateful there was a short instrumental that gave her a chance to recollect herself. She briefly met eyes with Tomoe, who had the biggest grin on her face, pure elation radiating from her. Himari couldn’t help but smile herself.

_Some things just, some things just make sense_  
And one of those is you and I  
Some things just, some things just make sense  
And even after all this time 

The bridge fell to the build up before the last chorus. Tomoe fell to one knee next to Himari, extending her free hand to the bassist. Himari was pretty sure her breath got caught somewhere in her throat.

_I'm into you  
Baby not a day goes by that I'm not into you_

Again, for an instant, their eyes meant once more. Himari was entranced by the brightness of how blue Tomoe’s eyes were at that moment, sparkling at her. For a second, time stopped, only for Himari to be brought back into reality when Tomoe broke her gaze to close her eyes and belt out the end of the line.

Himari wasn’t sure how she got through the last chorus. Her hand-eye coordination went on autopilot as she tried to steady the uncontrollable beating of her heart.

The song ended and Ako cheered from behind, throwing out a peace sign to her sister. Tomoe laughed heartily, returning the gesture with a thumbs up. When Himari checked the screen, it was clear that Ako had the highest score and she barely was able to pass the song. Ako had gotten so sucked into playing the part that she barely recognized Himari’s complete breakdown in focus. But why would she? This sort of thing happened often when they all played together. Both Udagawa sisters got way too enthusiastic into video games that Ako probably dismissed Tomoe’s performance from the corner of her eye as something that was an usual occurrence. Perhaps it was all just ordinary, Himari knew she got overly emotionally affected by the simplest things.

“Hii-chan, you usually never play this bad. Even if it is the first song.” Ako said, stretching out her hands.

“Haha, sorry Ako-chan,” Himari apologized slightly nervously. “Guess I just got distracted.”

“At least Onee-chan didn’t jump from the couch this time,” Ako answered with a laugh.

“Tomoe! You what?!” Himari exclaimed, turning to her girlfriend.

Tomoe smiled sheepishly and shrugged, “What can I say?”

Himari rolled her eyes. The Udagawas were crazy. Nobody would probably believe her if Himari ever tried to explain how much of a handful Tomoe could be, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this partially came from a few headcanons that Tomoe is a goddess of a singer because Yoko Hikasa has the most heavenly voice on the planet. Also that it blends super well with Ayane’s voice, so most of the harmonies and doubles that follow Ran’s lead vocal would be Tomoe singing. Plus, I just really like Paramore and thought this song was absolutely perfect for them.
> 
> I am not sorry for the intro of this fic.


	2. [Day 2] Date/Sunset

“The sunset’s really pretty today.” Himari said barely above a whisper, sitting back into Tomoe’s embrace and relishing the warmth pressed against her back. Tomoe unconsciously tightened the hug, resting her chin on Himari’s shoulder and humming in agreement. The two of them sat on the grass overlooking the riverwalk, watching the sunset reflect of the waters below them. It was a calming way for them to unwind from their first official date.

They didn’t do anything special, just the typical dinner and movie date. In fact, they did that regularly as friends. But things were different now. They were dating. It was a strange feeling, but not an uncomfortable one. Tomoe supposed it was because it hadn’t fully settled in her mind that such was the case. Especially since it was Himari that confessed first.

That definitely threw Tomoe off kilter. Tomoe knew how much she liked Himari since middle school, but had been swallowing her crush to oblivion. She was ready to take that crush to the grave when she was absolutely certain that when Himari went to her for confession advice, it meant that Himari was going to confess to Kaoru. But Himari turned everything around. In hindsight, it was actually amusing, the idea of going to your crush coming to you for confession advice, only for them to confess to you almost immediately after receiving said advice.

“Tomoe,” the drummer heard Himari call for her from her thoughts. “Skip this song, it makes me sad.”

“But it’s a good song though,” Tomoe answered, but unwrapped one of her arms to reach into her back pocket to retrieve her phone, trying not to accidentally pull the headphones out of either of their ears.

“Yea, but it’s ruining the mood.” 

Tomoe snickered in response. 

“Well, sorry for ruining the mood,” Tomoe apologized with sarcasm as she kept skipping songs to find one that she thought would ‘fit the mood.’

“Wait, go back to that one!” Himari said.

Tomoe pressed the back button, letting the previous song play as she stuffed her phone back into her pocket. As she brought the arm back around, Himari rested her own hand over Tomoe’s, intertwining their fingers together. They sat in content silence for a while longer, watching the sun descend while listening to music.

“Hey Tomoe?” Himari asked seriously as she broke the silence.

“What’s up?”

“I’m never letting go.” Himari confessed, squeezing Tomoe’s hand.

A pregnant pause.

“...Even if I’m not a guy?” Tomoe joked.

Himari jabbed Tomoe’s stomach with her elbow, her face turning red. “Shut up!”

“You set yourself up for that one.” Tomoe laughed.

“I know…” Himari pouted, but ended up laughing along with Tomoe a moment later. It had taken her way too long to realize that it didn’t matter if Tomoe wasn’t a guy, but at least now they could look back and joke about it. Neither of them were planning on going anywhere.

They kept their embrace until the sun had completely gone down. Neither wanted to move from that spot, but Tomoe was starting to get cold. She wasn’t going to admit that fact out loud though. Himari barely felt the evening chill come in, as she was basking safely in the warmth of Tomoe’s embrace, but she did feel Tomoe’s slight shiver against her back as the wind blew past them. 

“We should probably head back.” Himari finally said. 

Tomoe was partially relieved, but she still groaned as Himari freed herself from their embrace to stand up, not wanting the moment to end. Himari helped Tomoe up, only to pull her into another hug once they were both standing. Tomoe released a small gasp, but returned the embrace nonetheless.

“What happened to us heading back?” Tomoe asked.

They were both hesitant to pull away from the embrace, but Himari finally steeled her resolve and broke off the hug. Taking Tomoe’s hand in her own, she tugged them along in the direction of the train station.

“Can we get crêpes on the way, too?” Himari answered the question with a question.

Tomoe simply smiled and allowed herself to be pulled.

“Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one’s pretty short, but just as fluffy. You can imagine whatever you want, but I thought Tomoe and Himari would be listening to Stereopony.


	3. [Day 3] Candy

It was a mundane rainy afternoon for Tomoe and Himari during the summer of their final year of high school; and, with both of them somehow already finished with their homework, they were bored out of their minds. The two spent the majority of the morning together just laying around in Himari’s bedroom with Tomoe’s head resting on Himari’s stomach, who in turn was idly running her hand through Tomoe’s hair. It was incredibly silky and it was a mystery how it could stay straight even in the humid summer heat. 

“I’m bo~red.” Himari softly whined.

“You’ve said that like five times, at least, in the past hour.” Tomoe noted, her attention never leaving the DS in her hands.

Himari released a long groan before ultimately deciding to check her social media feed yet again, not that any new posts would pop up, since she’d been freshing it every 30 seconds for the past half hour out of boredom. Refusing to be any lazier, Himari slid off the bed, which forced Tomoe to sit up as well. Himari rummaged around her room until she found her not-so-secret stash of snacks, pulling out a rather large lollipop from the sack.

“Okay, why do you have that?” Tomoe questioned, confusion and concern laced in her sentence.

“It was super cheap when I last went to the candy store. It’s supposed to be saved for emergencies, and this is an emergency.”

“Emergency sugar is not something you need.” Tomoe grumbled, returning to her game because she knew even if she tried to convince Himari not to eat the oversized lollipop, it would have no effect. She’ll just have to take the blunt of Himari’s diet complaints later on.

Himari took a seat at the edge of the bed next to Tomoe, enjoying the candy as she watched Tomoe play her video game. Tomoe immediately took the opportunity to rest her head back in Himari’s lap as if she never left in the first place. Like clockwork, Himari’s free hand found its way back into Tomoe’s hair.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to get Monster Hunter?” She asked as she watched Tomoe’s avatar evade a monster’s tail slam.

“That was Monster Hunter World, this is Monster Hunter Generations.” Tomoe corrected Himari, “I don’t really like online games like Ako does.”

“Right,” Himari agreed, pretending that she understood the difference between the two games.

Himari’s phone pinged as a new notification popped up. Without thinking, Himari held her lollipop in her mouth as she reached for her phone. As if she would choose to use the hand comfortably situated in her girlfriend’s hair, lightly massaging Tomoe’s scalp in the process, to pick up the device. The notification was a snap from Moca, who was supposed to be at work right now. Himari played the video; which was Moca’s very sly attempt on trying to film Ran and Tsugumi browsing the convenience store. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary until Moca zoomed in the focus to where you could just barely make out that they were in fact holding hands.

“I called it!” Himari suddenly exclaimed out loud. However, the moment she opened her mouth, the lollipop she had been holding between her teeth fell from grace and straight into Tomoe’s hair. Himari was frozen in shock, not believing the situation to be real. All it took was a moment of distraction and disaster struck. Tomoe didn’t immediately notice what had happened and took a second to switch her attention from her game to her girlfriend. Met with Himari’s eyes, wide with shock and tears beginning to well up, it wasn’t long until realization dawned on her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Himari repeated as she apologized profusely, looking as if she was a moment away from bursting into tears. “I can fix this!”

Tomoe was surprisingly calm with the whole ordeal. She did groan at the inconvenience of the situation as she grabbed the handle of the oversized lollipop and tried to tug it out of her hair. The attempt only made the situation worse as the lollipop became increasingly lodged in the long strands. An extremely unfortunate situation to deal with, and with how uneventful the rest of the day had been, Tomoe wasn’t really in any mood to deal with it. Himari was already searching on the internet trying to find solutions of getting lollipops out of hair.

“Do you think peanut butter would work, like with gum? Huh-” Himari looked up from her phone to find Tomoe already across the room where Himari’s desk was. Tomoe grabbed the scissors from desk organizer.

“Woah, Tomoe! Wait!” Himari felt like she was in a horror film, as if she were being forced to watch someone get tortured. “You can’t just cut your hair?!”

“Yes I can?” Tomoe answered, not quite following Himari’s logic. The weight of the lollipop was becoming more annoying by the second and this was the most direct solution. Tomoe focused on the mirror as she unapologetically cut off the hair that was stuck to the lollipop. With it being a rather large lollipop, Tomoe ended up unevenly cutting most of her hair off and ultimately decided to just cut all of it off. When the deed was done, Tomoe’s hair barely reached her shoulders. It was horrific; the haircut being painfully uneven.

“I’m sorry…” was the only thing Himari could squeak out, her eyes glassy. She already felt horrible, but seeing how bad Tomoe’s hair looked afterwards made it even worse.

“Oh, come on, Himari, hair grows back.” Tomoe said as she looked at her hair in the mirror. She had to admit how rash her decision had been. ”It’s pretty bad, isn’t it?”

“Yea~” Himari drew out awkwardly, the guilt still lingering in her voice.

Tomoe released a grave chuckle, grabbing her jacket that hung off Himari’s desk chair. She pulled the hood up over her head so the haircut wasn’t obvious. “Wanna come with me to the hair salon?”

“Please.” Himari answered, jumping up from her bed. There was no way she would allow her girlfriend to walk around like a fashion disaster. As she accepted her fate-- Tomoe’s fate, technically, but Himari was extremely empathetic about it-- Himari promised to pay for the haircut as an apology. Once the hairstylist touched up Tomoe’s hack job of a haircut, Tomoe’s hair was as short as it was when they were still in middle school. Seeing it made Himari remember that Tomoe had also cut her hair short in the same way back when they entered middle school, wanting to feel “edgy” as she entered her adolescence.

Tomoe’s new haircut quickly became a trending topic. After Himari sent a snap to the Afterglow Snapchat group, Moca screenshotted the picture and sent it to Lisa and Saaya, and from there on out, the news spread out like wildfire. Tomoe didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but it was a huge change for her. She had to get used to the chill of the wind blowing against the back of her neck; but, it made drumming way easier, since it wouldn’t get in her face or end up sweating bullets because of how hot and heavy the hair was. Tomoe was tempted to always keep her hair shorter from now on because of it, and Himari found that she couldn’t disagree.

 

Omake:

“What’s with you and playing with my hair?” Tomoe asked one night while Himari lazily ran her fingers through Tomoe’s hair. Himari was staying the night, after they had lost track of time from being invested in certain activities. They didn’t realize how late it had gotten and it was better off if Himari slept over, as she had many times before.

“What’s wrong with it? You seem to enjoy it.” Himari answered as she continued to massage the back of Tomoe’s head.

Tomoe made a noise somewhere between a contented hum and an unamused sigh. She, however, leaned closer to the contact, which made Himari giggle. After Tomoe cut her hair short, Himari found herself playing with it much more often when they were alone, and Tomoe never retaliated. That is, unless Himari pulled at it.

Tomoe was the first to fall asleep, the feeling of having her hair played causing her to doze off into dreamland. Only then did Himari finally stopped her ministrations. A yawn escaped her, followed by a feathery kiss against Tomoe’s bare shoulder. Himari laid her head on Tomoe’s chest, feeling gentle rise and fall of it as Tomoe slept. It was much too soothing for her own good. There, in the quiet of the night, Himari fell asleep listening to the rhythm of Tomoe’s heartbeat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, TsuguRan is a thing, because why not? They’re both probably too nervous and scared to say anything to the rest of Afterglow though. Not that they should be, but you know how they are.
> 
> Tomoe actually gives zero shits, this is why we don’t buy those big ass lollipops from candy stores. Yes I know you can get lollipops out of hair somehow, but who has time for that?
> 
> Part of me wanted to write longer drabbles, but honestly, even committing to doing one every day for a week is challenge enough with my schedule. T_T Anyhoo, Two Princes is getting an update soon, but it’ll most likely be a short chapter until I have more time to dedicate to writing.


	4. [Day 4] Domestic/Animals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm pretty sure most everything I write for TomoHima is pretty domestic already. That's just how I see them being, just saying. This one's with them living together in college.

"Tomoe! Wake up!"

Himari had already returned from the communal showers hoping Tomoe would have gotten up by the time she got back to their shared dorm room. All Himari heard in response was a loud groan coming from under the blankets. Himari sighed to herself, walking over to their bed and pulling on the covers, but Tomoe had a death grip on the comforter and refused to give it up. She even so far as to roll even farther from Himari, turning herself into a half-asleep human burrito. Tomoe was pressed up against the wall, so Himari couldn't even try to push Tomoe off the bed like she would when she used to sleep over at Tomoe's house.

"You're insatiable!"

"Insufferable." Tomoe corrected in a low voice. She released a tired chuckle when she felt a pillow get thrown at her because of her snarky response, but still refused to leave the warmth of the comforter.

Himari turned to drastic measures, taking her phone and playing loud music. Loud music that Tomoe hated. She skipped to somewhere in the middle of the song where she knew Tomoe could not stand; and after a few seconds, an even louder groan came from the blanket burrito as Tomoe finally accepted defeat. Tomoe freed herself from the confines of the comforter as she sat up with a loud yawn. She glared daggers at Himari, silently demanding that the horrible music to be turned off.

Himari chuckled as she went over and lightly grabbed Tomoe's jaw to kiss her on the cheek, not caring if Tomoe had morning breath or drool dried up on her face, and certainly not how cutely disheveled Tomoe's bedhead was.

"Good morning, Tomoe." Himari said just above a whisper.

"G'morning." Tomoe answered groggily with a tired smile, patting Himari on the head as she stood up before proceeding to get ready for the day.

~~[Bandori]~~

"Can we please~ go out for dinner tonight?" Himari whined as they watched anime after their classes were over. All they've eaten for the last three days were instant noodles; and, while Tomoe was perfectly fine with surviving on a cheap ramen diet, Himari was certain that she would go crazy if she didn't eat something else for a change.

"Are you paying?" Tomoe asked, her focus still on the anime playing on TV, "'Cause I don't get paid until next week and somebody just had to tell me to buy a beanbag chair."

"Don't blame me for that!" Himari countered, crossing her arms accompanied by a pout. "You were the one that wanted it."

"You're an enabler; that's what you are." Tomoe teased, poking at Himari's side. Himari recoiled and tried to squirm herself away, but Tomoe had had her arm around Himari ever since the beginning of the current anime episode. With no escape from Tomoe's grasp, Himari tried to fend Tomoe off with little to no avail.

"Stop~" Himari whined between giggles, grabbing at Tomoe's wrist. "I'll pay for dinner, okay?"

"Thank you, Himari~" Tomoe cooed with a coy smile. Himari pouted before suddenly taking the moment of weakness to tackle Tomoe, counter attacking with a barrage of tickles and kisses. Luckily, the beanbag chair broke their fall.

~~[Bandori]~~

"Ah~ I'm stuffed." Himari sighed contently as the couple exited the restaurant. "I can't believe you still ordered ramen!"

"But this one had actual pork in it!" Tomoe complained as her hand intertwined with Himari's as they walked towards the train station. "Instant ramen and genuine ramen are two very different things."

Himari snickered; it was amusing how Tomoe would defend the dish as if it were a matter of life or death.

"Whatever you say," Himari answered as she squeezed Tomoe's hand, "But if you turn into noodles, don't say I didn't warn you."

"I'm pretty sure I've already turned into a burrito." Tomoe joked.

As the two laughed to themselves, they suddenly heard a crash down an alleyway followed by angry barking. Himari was startled and instantly held on to Tomoe's arm. Tomoe was a little shaken, but was able to recover quickly. Peering down the alleyway for any signs of possible danger, Tomoe just barely saw in the shadows a rottweiler overpowering a small kitten. Without a second thought, Tomoe tore herself away from Himari and dashed into the alleyway. She picked up a stray metal pole and hit it against a nearby trash bin several times, the noise startling the dog and causing it to run away. The kitten, also frightened, hid in a cardboard box, but accidentally tipped it over, thus trapping itself.

Himari caught up, breathless. She was about to ask Tomoe what was up when she heard the soft mew. She watched silently as Tomoe carefully walked up to the box, squatting next to it and gently lifting one side. The kitten whined but made no attempt to run away- perhaps because it was too weak to do so- but instead watched Tomoe with careful eyes.

"It's so small and cute!" Himari squealed barely above a whisper, cupping her hands to her cheeks.

"And hurt," Tomoe pointed out.

The kitten sported a few gashes that easily stood out from its mostly white fur. Well, Tomoe was assumed it was white, but with the dimness of the alleyway and dirt in its fur made it look more like a dull grey. Tomoe slowly extended her palm, patiently allowing the cat to come to her. Over her shoulder, Himari made several squeals at how cute the scene before her was. Several moments passed before the kitten was overcome by curiosity and came over to rub itself against Tomoe's hand. Himari thought she would faint from the amount of cuteness happening right now.

"Tomoe~, we can't just leave it here!" Himari said, kneeling beside her girlfriend to greet the small feline. As the kitten learned that it was not in the presence of dangerous company, it allowed itself to be gently petted.

"You know we can't have pets in the dorms." Tomoe reasoned.

"You're the one that played hero." Himari countered, picking the small animal up into her arms. "At least to tend to its wounds so they don't get infected."

Tomoe sighed; it seemed that it couldn't be helped.

~~[Bandori]~~

"What should we name it?" Himari asked she held a ribbon up for the kitten to swat at. "Wait, is it a girl or a boy?"

Himari was playing with the cat with a ribbon she had found somewhere in their dorm room while Tomoe sat at the desk on her laptop, looking up how to care for a kitten. How Himari ever convinced her to keep the kitten rather than throw it out into the streets again, Tomoe wasn't sure, but perhaps she did feel bad for the animal.

"I don't know." Tomoe replied, scrolling down the wikihow page of basic cat care.

Suddenly, a knock was heard from their dorm room door. Occasionally, there would be random checks made by the floor dons to make sure the dorm residents returned by curfew. Unfortunately, the one assigned to Tomoe and Himari's floor was one of the stricter ones.

"Crap, it's her, isn't it?" Himari whispered.

Tomoe swallowed and replied with a nod. Communicating with their panicked facial expressions alone, Himari quickly picked up the cat and hid under the covers of the bed just as Tomoe moved to the door, opening it up as casually as possible. Waiting outside was a shorter girl with long, silver hair.

"Good evening, Tomoe."

"G'evening, Yukina." Tomoe answered, careful about how the tone of her voice came out.

"Where's Himari? Is she not with you?" Yukina asked, unable to see inside with Tomoe blocking most of the entryway. She had a feeling in her gut that something was amiss.

Tomoe laughed nervously. "Ahaha, well she went to sleep a little earlier than usual tonight."

"I see." Yukina asked, but her brow raised in suspicion.

As Tomoe was trying to deal with Yukina, Himari tried to stay still under the covers. The cat, however, was not enjoying being trapped and wiggled its way out of Himari's grasp.

"No, wait!" Himari whispered after the feline, but all too late as the cat found its way out of the covers and onto the floor. It released a small mew that was unmistakingly heard by Yukina. The floor don glared daggers at Tomoe, who only swallowed nervously having been caught. Yukina took the opportunity to push through Tomoe to enter the dorm room. Tomoe and Himari were certain they were done for; Yukina took her responsibility as floor don very seriously, following every rule and regulation to the dot. There would be no doubt that she would report this to the housing administration.

Yukina, much to their surprise, was already on her knees, mimicking the mewing she had heard as she gently rubbed the kittens belly. Tomoe and Himari were stunned, not knowing how to react.

"You're so soft and wonderful, you cute little kitten, you," Yukina cooed at the cat, completely forgetting her prior responsibilities. After a beat or two, Tomoe awkwardly coughed, regaining the attention of the distracted floor don. Yukina quickly realized the implications of her current behavior and stood up abruptly, clearing her throat as she regained composure.

"Well, it seems that things look to be in order," Yukina said in a firm voice. "However, I must warn you, some of the other students have recently complained about noise coming from here. Please try to avoid disturbing the others at night, if you will."

Yukina gracefully made her way out of the dorm room to continue her rounds, smirking to herself as she pasted Tomoe, who looked like all the color had been drained from her face. Himari, on the other hand, was completely red from embarrassment. Yukina stopped momentarily at the entryway but did not turn around.

"It's a girl, by the way," Yukina commented before continuing down the hall, closing the door behind her as she left.

It took a while for Tomoe and Himari to fully process everything that just happened. When they finally recovered from the ordeal, Tomoe went to pick up the cat that had caused them so much trouble.

"Do you think-?" Himari asked, not daring to finish the sentence. Were they really in the clear?

Tomoe fell backwards onto the bed next to Himari, setting the cat down on her stomach. "I doubt it. I don't think I've ever seen Yukina behave as such before, but she'll probably let it slide for the sake of the little fella here."

It did not take long for the cat to grow overwhelmed at the attention and hop off the bed again to explore its new environment. Tomoe continued to keep an eye on it as Himari released a yawn. With everything that had happened that night, Himari was ready to turn in for the night.

"If that's the case, you're buying the cat food," Himari said as she began to settle under the covers.

"What?! Why me?"

"I paid for dinner," Himari reasoned in a sleepy manner. "Which means you pay for cat food."

"You're the one that wanted to keep it." Tomoe said in an annoyed mumble, but Himari elected to avoid further conversation by pulling the comforter over her head.

"Hey! Don't just go to sleep on me, you can't get out of this." Tomoe said as she repeatedly poked the mound beside her.

"I'll sleep if I want to, tonight was exhausting." Himari turned her back to Tomoe, "Good night."

Tomoe groaned at Himari's sassy attitude, but her attention was quickly shifted back to the cat, who had decided to pee on one of her shirts that was scattered on the floor. Tomoe sighed defeatedly and got up to deal with the cat. Maybe they should just give the cat to Yukina to take care of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TomoHima is married and they're an old bickering couple. Change my mind. (You won't.) Not gonna write a lot of notes this time cause I have things to do and I almost forgot to post this.


	5. [Day 5] Sickness/Halloween

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to set the scene, this is pre-relationship stuff. Wanted to explore how things were before the confession, when they were dancing around each other about their feelings. Himari is still somewhat in gay denial at this point in time, but definitely starting to get those tomosexual vibes.

Himari winced as she felt her stomach churn. Why did this have to happen now? It was Kokoro’s annual Halloween party and Himari’s favorite time of year. As her favorite holiday, it would be an understatement to say that she had been looking forward to this since the beginning of autumn. Her costume was planned out weeks in advance, and she worked hard on it since she decided to make it from scratch. How ironic of it to be so fitting for her in this very moment.

Everything felt hot; the zombie make-up she applied earlier that day felt sticky on her skin as it began to mix with sweat. Himari had been so excited about trying out all the makeup techniques she found online, from fake latex wounds to the contouring that would make her look undead, that it was disheartening to feel as if all her efforts were melting away.

Nausea began to settle in and Himari forced herself to take to the sidelines in order to sit down. The tables set up were far away from the heart of the party, but she could still feel the heavy bass of the blaring music resonate in her head as she sat down. The cold glass of water in her hand, however, did help fend off some of the headache that made the room sway.

How did this even happen? She felt fine all day up until now. Did she eat something from the buffet that her body didn’t agree with? That sushi platter did seem a little sketchy. Himari released a pained groan; she may have been dressed up as the undead in the spirit of Halloween, but she felt like she might actually die. An exaggeration, for sure, but Himari was always bad with dealing with pain, so it felt as so in her books.

“Why so serious?”

Misaki took a seat at the same table, having trouble adjusting her cape so that she wouldn’t end up sitting on it. Hello, Happy World! were dressed up as DC comics characters, with Misaki choosing to don a Batman costume. The ever-energetic Hagumi was the Flash; Kanon chose Wonder Woman since she didn’t really know the franchise all too well; Kaoru took up the Doctor Fate persona simply from the name alone; and Kokoro wore an old-school Harley Quinn jester suit. 

“You didn’t strike me as the party pooper type.”

“I think I ate some bad sushi or something,” Himari answered, sitting up a little straighter to hide how queasy she actually felt.

Misaki hummed in understanding. They sat in silence, looking out towards the dance floor, where most of the party’s attendees were enjoying themselves. There were a few outliers, like Moca-- she had been married to the buffet table since the event started-- and Sayo, who was preoccupied sulking to herself at one of the other tables. Himari couldn’t help but feel a little sympathetic for Sayo’s predicament: being forced by the rest of her band to at least show her face at the party. Worse still, she sported a blue dragon onesie, slightly too short for her, that complimented Hina’s green one because the latter couldn’t decide on which color to get and thus buying both. Had Himari felt a little better, she would have personally reached out to Sayo herself to help make the party a little more tolerable.

“Why don’t you just go home if you don’t feel well,” Misaki asked, “It’s not like you’re obligated to stay the whole time.”

“I was hoping the feeling would pass,” Himari confessed. “Besides…”

Himari easily picked out Tomoe from the rest of the dancers, internally longing to have been out there dancing beside her. It was an annual struggle for Himari to get Tomoe into the Halloween spirit, but finding Tomoe to enjoy herself by the end of it was always a personal victory. This year, Tomoe even went so far as picking her own costume without Himari’s help. Himari couldn’t put her finger to it, but there was something so alluring about watching Tomoe, dressed up as Rias Gremory, dancing with the rest of their friends. Himari questioned Tomoe’s decision at first, after refusing to watch the anime with her best friend because she couldn’t get through an episode without becoming an embarrassed blushing mess by the end of it. However, when she actually saw Tomoe in the costume (Tomoe was modest enough to choose the school uniform outfit), Himari concluded that it wasn’t a bad choice after all. In fact, it was a really good choice, if you asked her. Just the sight before her made Himari forget about the pain she was in, or maybe she had become numb to it by now.

Himari never quite finished her thought out loud, but Misaki could infer where the prior was heading with her claim, seeing that she was blatantly ogling the redhead with a dreamy look in her eyes. Misaki chuckled quietly to herself and wordlessly left the table. Everybody in their musical friend group knew-- aside from Tomoe and Himari themselves-- how badly each had it for the other. It was no secret, but it was left unspoken with nobody wanting to be the one to drop the bomb and tell them to just date already. Himari, due to being hopelessly distracted, didn’t notice Misaki’s departure-- her costume camouflaging her under the dim lighting of the banquet hall-- until she saw the costumed vigilante walk up to Tomoe and get the latter’s attention.

They conversed momentarily before Tomoe excused herself. The moment Himari realized Tomoe was heading her way, she quickly tore her gaze away to take another drink of water. Was the room getting even hotter? Her chest was becoming just as constricted as her stomach; it must’ve been more symptoms of the food poisoning, surely. 

“Hey, you okay?” Tomoe inquired with some concern. “Misaki told me you weren’t feeling well.”

Bringing up the topic made Himari feel worse. Part of it was because she became more acutely aware of her physical condition, but a majority of it came from Himari’s guilt for causing Tomoe to worry for her rather than enjoying the party Himari worked so hard to convince Tomoe to attend.

“I’ll be fine,” Himari lied with a faint smile, but her words came out more weakly than she intended.

“Don’t give me that,” Tomoe replied gently, “You should rest if you’re sick.”

Tomoe was a natural caregiver, being an older sister as well as Afterglow’s unspoken mom-friend. If anyone got sick, she would be the first to visit with anything that person needed to get better. More so beyond that, whenever Himari called complaining about period pains to the point of tears (hormones made her more emotional than she already was), Tomoe was more than willing to go on supply runs and spend the day with with her, even if she ended up stupidly crying over shoujo anime.

“Really,” Himari urged, “Don’t worry about me.”

“Your makeup is running.”

“Is it really?!” Himari answered, suddenly alarmed at how unsightly she must look right now.

“No, not quite,” Tomoe answered truthful with a soft chuckle, “But you do look like you might pass out at any second, and I’m pretty sure that it’s not because of the contouring.”

Himari sighed deeply in defeat. She could never hide these kinds of things from Tomoe.

“Come on. I’ll take you home,” Tomoe offered as she helped Himari up from her seat.

Himari tried to refuse the offer, but after nearly losing her balance out of dizziness, yielded to Tomoe’s help.

On the train ride back, Himari allowed herself to lean against Tomoe for support. She didn’t feel as nauseous now that her head wasn’t pounding from the music. She still felt bad for making Tomoe leave the party early; but it was soothing to have nothing but the gentle rattling of the train running filling the train car and Tomoe’s warming company at her side.

“Thanks, Tomoe,” Himari whispered, not wanting to be a nuisance to the other passengers. “You really didn’t have to do this, you know?” 

“I know,” Tomoe answered, “I wanted to.”

“But, you’re always taking care of me.” Himari sat up to look Tomoe in the face, guilty for always having to rely on the other girl. “I shouldn’t have to rely on you so much, I’m sorry.”

“I don’t mind,” Tomoe replied with a reassuring smile, but soon after shifted her gaze down towards her shoes. 

There was a silence between them and Himari questioned if she had overstepped something. As kind and caring as Tomoe was, she also was modest, never expecting a thanks in return because she felt that helping out seemed like the natural thing to do. 

Tomoe sighed deeply before speaking again, “I do it cause I care, you know, and… I can’t help but get worried for you.”

“I know.” Himari confirmed, wrapping her arms around Tomoe’s stomach. She didn’t mean to cause Tomoe to worry so much. So Himari stayed like that for a while, clutching onto Tomoe, hoping all her gratitude would somehow be conveyed through the contact between them. “Thanks for always being there for me. You’re literally the bestest friend ever.”

“Hehe, yea. I guess so.” Tomoe’s answer was almost inaudible, hesitantly returning the embrace. At least Himari wouldn’t be able to hear the slight disappointment in her voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t mean for it to get so angsty… They’re just sad that they can’t find the words to say how much they actually care about each other. 
> 
> I actually wrote this in my notebook during lecture rather than on a word document like I usually do. That was an interesting experience since I rarely write anything down on paper anymore.
> 
> Tomorrow's prompt might get posted super late cause I didn't have time to write it/backlog it in time and the idea I have is suuuuuuper long. I just don't want to get behind though :(


	6. [Day 6] Past/Future

Tomoe allows herself to collapse onto the couch with a relieved sigh. After a week of stress and hard work, everything was finally moved into the new apartment and unpacked properly. No more tripping over boxes or trying to find where the kitchenware was hiding. How did they end up with all this stuff anyways?

Tomoe looked around the living room. It was almost unreal, thinking that she and Himari finally had their own place, in Tokyo of all places. They both just recently graduated college and the cozy apartment in the heart of the Shimokitazawa district had seemingly called out to their souls. It was a ways away from both of their jobs, but it just felt like the perfect fit for them that they couldn’t pass up the offer-- especially since the rent was just slightly lower than the other places they scouted.

With a deep breath, Tomoe closed her eyes and was ready to doze off. They’ve been working all afternoon and she thought that she deserved a break now that they were finally done unpacking. ‘Home sweet home’ is what people said, right? It definitely felt like it now that they were settled in, though Tomoe was certain that with anywhere she went, as long as Himari was with her, it would always feel like home. They had spent nearly their entire lives together, after all, and had all the plans to spend the rest of it together as well.

“Are you falling asleep already? We haven’t even had dinner yet.” 

Tomoe heard the alluring voice and smiled softly. She fluttered her eyes open to find Himari making her way to the couch as well. “Not quite yet. But everything’s unpacked right?”

“Yup.” Himari confirmed with a pop on the ‘p’ before ruffling Tomoe’s hair. “Mom sent something in the mail.”

Tomoe sat up to make room for Himari on the couch, noticing the package tucked under Himari’s arm as she sat down. “What is it?”

“Housewarming gift, probably?”

Inside the box was a scrapbook filled with pictures of when the two of them were younger. Some included Ran, Moca, and Tsugu as well, but the primary focus was very much placed on the two of them. It went all the way back to when they were children. Tomoe was surprised how some of these pictures had survived the test of time after all these years.

“Some of these you took, right, Himari?” Tomoe asked while skimming the scrapbook as she noticed some of the pictures were various selfies that Himari took on her phone at the time. “How’d your mom get these?”

“She probably saved them from social media, but some of these I think I sent to her too.” Himari flipped back to the front of the scrapbook. Taking in the pictures more deeply, the two found themselves reminiscing about the years between them.

“Haha, I forgot that I broke my ankle,” Tomoe laughed as she saw a picture of herself in elementary school sporting a boot on her left leg.

“What do you mean, you forgot?! We were all really worried for you!” Himari exclaimed in disbelief.

-[flashback]-

_“Tomoe!” A nine-year old Himari called out, “Get down from there! It’s dangerous.”_

_An ten-year old Tomoe flashed a reckless grin as she swung on a branch of a tree. “It’s fine! Hey, Moca! You owe me five pieces of candy!”_

_“Ah~ Tomo-chin is such a good climber,” Moca praised. Behind her, a very worried Tsugu hid as she clutched the back of Moca’s shirt._

_“Moca-chan, I don’t think you should be encouraging her,” the brunette spoke softly. “Ran-chan, tell Moca-chan to stop.”_

_“It’s also Tomoe’s fault for climbing such a high tree.” Ran answered with her arms crossed. In truth, she was more jealous of Tomoe because she had also tried climbing the tree but couldn’t even get up the trunk to the lowest branch._

_“Ran is just being pouty because she couldn’t pass Moca’s challenge.” Moca cooed as she poked Ran’s cheek. “It’s okay, Ran. I’ll give you a piece of candy for trying.”_

_“You’re going to get hurt!” Himari ignored the others as she tried to get her friend to come down._

_“I’’m not!” Tomoe answered. To prove her point, she dropped off from the branch, but failed to account for the landing as the force strained her ankles. Clutching her left leg, Tomoe groaned in pain. Himari was the first at her side, wanting to yell at Tomoe for her recklessness but was currently more concerned for her wellbeing._

_For the next month, Tomoe was forced to walk with a crutch while her ankle healed. Himari was mad at first, but quickly took it upon herself to help Tomoe. She would hold open doors for Tomoe, carry her school bag, or let the injured girl use her as support when she couldn’t (or refused to) use the crutch. It was one of the few times Himari felt proud that she was able to be relied on by Tomoe, which is why the memory was more ingrained in her mind._

-[end flashback]-

“It healed up fine, but you didn’t want to leave me alone lest I broke the other ankle too.” Tomoe found the memory more humorous than anything. Himari pouted in response. Some things didn’t seem to change over the years. 

Several pages later, the pictures transitioned over to when they were in middle school. Most of the pictures then had Tomoe with her short hair and made her look more masculine when dressed in casual attire. That was around the same time Himari also started saying “if you were a boy, I’d never let you go” because of how many times Tomoe had protected her from older bullies and comforted her in times of emotional distress. Funny how that would bite her in the butt in the future. However, the one memory that stuck out to them was when they saw a picture of them in front of the high school acceptance boards in their third year of middle school next to Himari’s older sister.

-[flashback]-

_“Onee-chan, why can’t you stay one more year! I’m going to be in high school next year and we could be in the same school!” Himari whined as she hugged her older sister. All of her other siblings had already moved out, so she was the only one Himari had left. She wasn’t prepared for Emiri to graduate and leave for college, especially since she was the sibling Himari was the closest with._

_Emiri laughed, patting her younger sister on the head. “It won’t be too bad, Himari-chan. You’ll have Afterglow with you, right? So you won’t be alone.”_

_“But you’ll visit a lot, right?”_

_“I’ll try my best. But, even if I can’t always visit, you can still text and call me. You’ll have fun in high school, I promise. Now, mom and dad are waiting to hear that you got into Haneoka High School too, so you should probably go and tell them”_

_Himari wiped her tears and nodded, running off towards the gates where her parents were waiting to hear the news of their youngest daughter’s high school acceptance. Tomoe, who had been present during the whole exchange, smiled at Emiri their gazes met. She too had regarded Emiri as an older sister and looked up to her as a role model. “We’re going to miss you when you go to Tokyo U, Emiri-nee.”_

_“Not you too, Tomoe-chan.” Emiri said dramatically with a laugh. She then placed a hand on Tomoe’s shoulder. Tomoe hadn’t hit her growth spurt yet, and so had to look up slightly to look Emiri in the eye._

_“Promise me, Tomoe-chan,” Emiri said seriously, “You’ll always be there for Himari-chan, no matter what. I’m entrusting you to keep her safe while I’m away.”_

_Tomoe nodded firmly, bringing up a fist in determination. “I promise with my life. I won’t let you down, Emiri-nee.”_

_Emiri laughed at Tomoe’s genuine enthusiasm and ruffled the younger girl’s hair. “I know you won’t. I’m proud of both of you, so be sure to enjoy high school. It’ll be over before you know it.”_

-[end flashback]-

Tomoe smiled to herself as she looked at the old photo of Himari’s then college-bound sister. She never told Himari about the promise she made specifically to Emiri, which in turn became a promise she gave herself, but she was sure Himari knew it all the same.

“What’s up?” Himari asked and Tomoe noticed she had been idly rubbing circles against Himari’s thigh.

“Nothing, just a bit of nostalgia is all,” Tomoe smiled warmly. “Say, didn’t Emiri-nee say she was going to try to get vacation time to return to Japan?”

Himari beamed. “Yup! Once we choose on a date, she’ll be the first to know so that she can schedule the flight as soon as possible. Onee-chan said it’s kind of a hassle to file for vacation time in America.”

Tomoe hummed, “We better get on that soon then, since we’ve finally finished settling into the apartment.”

Himari leaned her weight against Tomoe, who in turn put her arm around Himari as they fell back against the couch into a comfortable cuddle. They continued to go through the scrapbook, remembering how much had happened in high school. It was a period in their lives where five childhood friends only got even closer. Inseparable even. Afterglow the band might have broken up when they graduated high school, but Afterglow the group of lifelong friends kept unbreakable bonds that lasted to this day.

“Why is this picture in here?!” Himari burst out, a sense of dread and embarrassment filling her at the sight of it. It was one of the few pictures Tomoe didn’t recognize.

“When was this taken?” Tomoe asked as Himari buried her face into Tomoe’s shoulder.

“No~! It’s so embarrassing!”

The picture was taken by Moca most likely, since Tomoe didn’t remember being present for whatever had happened. The Himari pictured was even more so embarrassed, hiding her face in her hands as Tsugu patted her back with a nervous, empathetic laugh and Ran doing her best to console Himari but was suffering from secondhand embarrassment herself.

-[flashback]-

_“I have something really important to say,” Himari told the three awkwardly. “You’re not allowed to tell Tomoe, okay?”_

_“Are you finally going to profess your undying love to her?” Moca teased._

_Himari released a high-pitched embarrassed squeal before hiding herself in her hands. That was the moment Moca captured the reaction in photo. After a moment, Himari barely managed to get out a confirmation, but still refused to show her face to her friends._

_“Congrats, Himari!” Moca said, “You’re officially the last one to know!”_

_“Moca!” Ran and Tsugu scolded simultaneously._

_Once Moca finally quit her teasing and Himari got a hold of herself, the four went through ideas of how Himari could confess to Tomoe. With the other three knowing how long Tomoe had been hopelessly crushing on Himari-- since middle school, as Himari learned that day-- there was no way she would be the one to confess any time this century. Years of denial may have blinded Himari, but the moment she acknowledged her true feelings, their fragile dance between friendship and romance only became near unbearable in the past three months. She could only imagine how Tomoe dealt with actual years of swallowing her crush down as if it were nothing._

_The confession itself went nowhere close to what Himari had planned. Tsugu had been the one to suggest that the topic be brought up casually; it wasn’t like Tomoe was going to say no, and trying to pull some grand confession would have only made things even more nerve wracking than it already was._

_“Can I ask you something?” Himari went to ask one afternoon. They were sitting on a bench outside the convenience store, having stopped for a snack before heading to band practice. Himari couldn’t help but fidget with the empty wrapper in her hands, unsure how she would actually go through with the conversation._

_“Yea, sure what’s up?” Tomoe answered casually. Tomoe could tell Himari was nervous, but was patient and grounded enough to keep calm for the both of them. That much wasn’t out of the ordinary._

_The silence became increasingly heavy as Himari struggled to say the words that had been screaming out of her heart for the last few months. It scared her, frustrated her, and she found herself unable to follow through. In a panic, she blurted the first thing on her mind to fill the eternal silence. “What do I do if I wanted to confess?”_

_The wrong words came out. Indeed, that was something Himari was constantly thinking as she struggled to tell Tomoe how she felt, but it wasn’t the words she wanted to say. Instantly regretting saying anything in the first place, Himari’s face fell into her hands in embarrassment._

_Tomoe froze up. Had she heard Himari right? It wasn’t strange to ask your closest friend for confession advice, but the prospect of Himari potentially dating someone that wasn’t Tomoe completely shattered Tomoe to the core. Yet, she wasn’t going to be selfish; Tomoe put Himari’s happiness over her own, and put on a brave face in spite of the crushing pain that gripped her heart._

_“Just go for it.” Tomoe found herself saying. What a hypocrite she was for saying it, too. “It’s only going to eat you up unless you get it off your chest. Easier said than done, I know, but whatever their answer may be, that anxious weight will be lifted once you get the confession out.”_

_Tomoe sighed, her voice grew heavy. “Plus, it would suck if someone else beat you to that person.”_

_The air around them was suffocating. Tomoe was already burying her crush and taking it to the grave for the sake of saving their friendship, and Himari was internally panicking from the implications she just caused by her horrible phrasing. Despite it all, Tomoe still managed to put on a warm smile that stabbed Himari’s heart in all the wrong ways. Himari knew how Tomoe felt from what her friends told her, and she most definitely knew that her question seemed like she was planning on confessing to someone else entirely, so seeing such a sympathetic smile nearly broke Himari’s heart; to think that Tomoe would go so far as to swallow her own feelings for the sake of Himari’s happiness._

_“I’ll always be here to support you,” Tomoe reassured Himari. “But, who is this person anyways?”_

_Himari probably would have died had Tomoe not shifted the topic, which she assumed was also because Tomoe didn’t want to linger too much longer on the fact of the matter either._

_“Oh… well, um, they’re pretty tall,” Himari awkwardly began explain, not wanting to look Tomoe in the eye. “They can be mature at times, but they’re also a huge dork. It’s pretty cute actually. And, uh, they’re in a band, I guess…”_

_Himari was blushing like crazy. She couldn’t find any of the right words, but the more she thought about Tomoe’s qualities she adored, the harder it was to say anything. She was so far off the rails in love that she could barely knew how to handle it anymore._

_Tomoe swallowed nervously. It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together, there was only one person Himari gushed about whenever they were at school. “Hey, I’m sure Kaoru-”_

_Tomoe was cut off with the force of Himari clutching onto Tomoe for dear life, the hug nearly crushing Tomoe’s ribs as Himari completely buried her face into the taller girl’s chest._

_“Why do you have to be so cute?” Himari mumbled, her words muffled._

_“What?” Tomoe breathed out, not catching a single word._

_Himari turned her head to the side, her ear now pressed up against Tomoe hearing the frantic heartbeat pounding in the redhead’s chest that nearly matched her own. “Tomoe…”_

_All it took was hearing Himari say her name, so quiet and vulnerable, for Tomoe to ground herself again. She might be broken inside, but she would still continue being Himari’s anchor. She had made a promise after all, and she intended on keeping it no matter what. Tomoe returned the embrace, her tender hold on the shorter girl caused Himari to calm down._

_“Tomoe…” Himari repeated, now more at ease. Both of their heartbeats began to settle as continued to hold each other. “I’m in love with you.”_

-[end flashback]-

Tomoe chuckled as she held an embarrassed Himari in her arms, “Hey, things turned out okay, right?”

“Yea…” Himari agreed as the heat of embarrassment started to drain from her face. She sighed contently. “Things turned out more than okay.”

The pictures of their college years mostly consisted of pictures Himari took and sent back to her mom or posted on social media. Himari had bought a polaroid camera in her second year of college and took on photography as a hobby. She brought the camera in her bag almost anywhere she went, wanting to capture as many moments that just seemed much more magical with the tangible film in her hands. On the last page of the scrapbook were a few polaroids that Himari considered were her favorites.

-[flashback]-

_“Hurry up, Tomoe! We’ll miss the sunset if you don’t get your butt over here!” Himari already ran ahead as Tomoe pocketed the change for their admission. She hated keeping money lose in her pockets, but it seemed like neither Himari nor the sunset was patient enough to wait until she had put the money back into her wallet. There was a slight delay with the the train schedule that day, so they were racing the clock to make it to the observation deck in time to watch the sunset. It was their anniversary and they were soon to graduate, so they decided that they would celebrate by spending the day hitting some of Tokyo’s famous landmarks._

_Himari held onto Tomoe’s arm, bubbling in excitement as the rode the elevator to the upper observation deck. Tomoe smiled, watching the innocent glee that radiated from her girlfriend. The sunset was always important to them, the rays of the setting sun was a beautiful sight that reminded them of so many memories with their friends and with each other. Tomoe was planning to add to that list of memories._

_“I bet I can get some really beautiful shots from up here.” Himari noted as she made her way to the railing. They had just beat the sunset, which gave them a chance to relax for a second. As they waited, they pointed out some of the other locations they had visited that day, all looking seemingly minuscule from their vantage point. The sun soon began its final descent, the tip beginning to disappear under the horizon. Yellow, orange, and red hues collided in the sky, painting a warm gradient on an infinite canvas. It was a majestic sight, always giving Himari and Tomoe and soothing sense of comfort and nostalgia whenever they got the chance to watch it._

_“I wonder if the others are seeing this.” Himari wondered out loud, taking in how the shades of blue, purple, and black started to seep in from behind as night began to don._

_“I’m sure they are.” Tomoe answered. “Right guys?”_

_“Oh, yea, Tomo-chin, it’s breathtaking~” Moca answered from over their shoulders. Himari recognized the voice instantly and spun around, finding Moca, Ran, and Tsugu present._

_“Guys!” Himari ran and embraced the three in a group hug. They hadn’t seen the rest of them for months since everyone was busy with finals, graduation plans, and job searches. “What are you guys doing here?”_

_“Well,” Tsugu began, only for Ran to finish the explanation._

_“It’s your anniversary, right? We wanted to celebrate it with you guys.”_

_“Mhm,” Tsugu agreed, “Tomoe called us a few days ago asking if we wanted to meet up.”_

_“You guys are the best!” Himari cried, hugging her friends again._

_“Don’t go crying yet, Hii-chan~” Moca said with a laugh as they all parted a second time. “This isn’t even the best part.”_

_Himari raised a brow in confusion, only for Ran to point over Himari’s shoulder. When she turned around, she was met with the most breathtaking sight she could have possibly imagined. Framed by the glow of the sunset behind her, Tomoe was knelt down on one knee with an open red velvet box containing an embellished ring in her hand. Himari instantly felt her breath hitch as a loving smile crept onto Tomoe’s face as she saw Himari’s initial reaction. For a moment, the world around them melted, basking in the radiant afterglow. The stunning shimmer in Tomoe’s eyes contrasting the luminance of her hair as it reflected the sun’s rays set fire to Himari’s heart._

_“Uehara Himari,” Tomoe professed, her words soft as silk, “You are the most important person in my life. Never could I ever imagine having to live without you. I love you and I promise with the entirety of my being that I will always be there for you no matter what happens. Himari, will you marry me?”_

_Himari was already in tears, words caught in her throat as she could only manage tiny squeals of euphoria. Unable to form anything verbally coherent, she simply nodded her head enthusiastically, which was the only confirmation Tomoe needed to jump up to her feet in glee with the biggest grin. Himari immediately found her way into Tomoe’s arms, sobbing into her chest in happiness as she clutched Tomoe’s jacket. Tomoe rubbed circles onto Himari’s back until she calmed down and when they finally parted, Tomoe took the ring out of the box and put it on Himari’s left ring finger. Himari nearly burst into tears a second time seeing the engagement ring on her hand, but somehow managed to keep her composure as Tomoe kissed her forehead._

_Tsugu happily took possession of Himari’s polaroid camera to take a picture of the newly engaged couple with the sunset as a backdrop. One could still see the puffiness in Himari’s eyes in the picture, but Himari couldn’t bring herself to care. Ran had to quickly ask a random stranger, who had luckily and happily witnessed the proposal, to take a group picture of the five of them before the sun set completely._

-[end flashback]-

Himari fiddled with the engagement ring on her finger as Tomoe closed the scrapbook and set it on the coffee table. It was still surreal to think about, even though the proposal was five months ago. Himari was engaged, and she was going to marry Udagawa Tomoe, the love of her life that she had been through thick and and thin with; the one that punched a guy in the face harassing her girlfriend in public; the one that insisted that instant ramen was a totally viable choice as a breakfast meal; the one that let Himari cry onto her shoulder and drench her entire shirt when their favorite band broke up; the one that made Himari feel like she didn’t have to go through anything alone.

“I’m gonna start cooking up dinner,” Tomoe said as she stood up and stretched. “Ako brought some salmon fillets when she came to help move the other day.”

Himari nodded, hearing her phone ring as Tomoe made her way to the kitchen. The audio quality wasn’t the best, but it was one of the old recordings Afterglow made before ending the band. She read the caller ID before answering. “Hey mom! …Yea, we got the package, thank you! It’s really pretty. Tomoe and I went through it a while ago… Things are fine, we just finished unpacking… Tomoe? She’s about to cook dinner… Mom! Ugh… Yes, I’ll tell her. See you next week. Bye!”

Himari stepped into the kitchen, seeing ingredients laid out on the counter. Tomoe was on her phone while waiting for the pan to heat up. “Hey, future wife, Mom called. She wants to have dinner with us next week, if that’s okay?”

“Of course that’s okay.” Tomoe answered, setting down her phone. “By the way, could you get some more soy sauce tomorrow since you’re going grocery shopping tomorrow?”

“Sure thing.”

“Thanks, future wife.” Tomoe stuck her tongue out before going back to prepping dinner.

A new chapter of their lives were about to begin. New jobs, new apartment, more bills, more responsibilities. Life seemed like it was changing really fast, and as daunting as it seemed, they were more than ready to tackle whatever life would throw at them. Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy hell is this a long one. Sorry it’s a little late, as you can see I ended up writing a hellova a lot. Day 7 will also be a little late, because I totally changed up what I’m going to write, and life is as hectic as always. We’re getting near the end of TomoHima week and wow it’s been a journey. Definitely think that I’ve gotten a bit better with writing as it progressed, and the writing challenge was really fun actually. I hope you all enjoyed reading these as I enjoyed writing them.


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